A significant amount of video content is currently available in the MPEG-2 format. Furthermore, a large number of both cable set top boxes and satellite set top boxes that only support the MPEG-2 format are currently deployed. Therefore, compatibility with the MPEG-2 standard will remain important for years to come.
An H.264/MPEG4-AVC digital video standard (H.264 for short) is an emerging new format for consumer video, particularly in both new broadcast and High-Definition (HD) Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) applications. A Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) VC-1 digital video standard is an emerging new format for consumer video, particularly in both new video over Internet Protocol (IP) and high definition DVD applications. As H.264 based and VC-1 based content and products become available, transcoding in both directions (i) between the H.264 standard and the MPEG-2 standard, (ii) between the VC-1 standard and the MPEG-2 standard and (iii) between the H.264 standard and the VC-1 standard will become widely used capabilities. Anticipated consumer applications include reception of MPEG-2 broadcasts by a personal video recorder (PVR) and transcoding to either H.264 or VC-1 for saving on disk storage space. In another example, reception of H.264 or VC-1 satellite, H.264 or VC-1 cable broadcasts and VC-1 network broadcasts by a DVD recorder, transcoding the H.264/VC-1 material into MPEG-2 and then recording to a compatible DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and/or DVD+RW format magnetic disk or optical disk. The H.264 material is also expected to be transcoded into the VC-1 format for storage and display on a personal computer. Professional applications are also widely anticipated. Such applications include H.264 to MPEG-2 transcoding and VC-1 to MPEG-2 transcoding for content received at a headend facility in the H.264/VC-1 format that is transcoded into the MPEG-2 format or the VC-1 format for the “last mile” for compliance with currently deployed receivers. In another example, MPEG-2 to H.264/VC-1 transcoding could be used to save bandwidth for expensive transmission media such as satellite links. In still another example, MPEG-2 to H.264/VC-1 transcoding could be used for video server/video on demand (VOD) applications where the content could be stored in H.264/VC-1 for disk space savings and then transcoded to MPEG-2, H.264 or VC-1 format supported by a requesting client. Furthermore, the consumer market is a large market with strict complexity/cost constraints that will benefit substantially from an efficient and effective transcoding technology.